<div align="center"> <font color="Blue">Detroit Pistons</font> (5-5) @ <font color="Red">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> (6-4) Wednesday, November 24th Time: 7:00 PM EST Location: Cleveland TV: ESPN Previous Games: Pistons @ Bobcats 91-89 L Cavaliers @ Knicks 98-88 L Projected Starting Lineups PISTONS <font size="1">(Larry Brown)</font> <font size="1">(Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace)</font> <font size="4">VS</font> CAVALIERS <font size="1">(Paul Silas)</font> <font size="1">(Jeff McInnis, Ira Newble, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas)</font> Factors off the Bench <font size="1">(Lindsey Hunter, Robert Traylor)</font> Game MVPs <font size="1">(Chauncey Billups, LeBron James)</font></div> Brandon's Analysis The Pistons seem to be lost without their defensive beast, Ben Wallace, and have had two very difficult games against the Charlotte Bobcats, escaping with an overtime win in the first game, and a loss last night in Charlotte. After losing their first three games of the season, the Cavs went on a 6-game win streak before losing Sunday to the New York Knicks, putting them at second place in the Central standings. A key matchup will be LeBron James and Tayshaun Prince. Prince's long wingspan should make it difficult for King James to get to the hoop, and forcing him to the baseline could result in a poor shot selection throughout the game, or a nice dish to Gooden or Ilgauskas each and everytime. Speaking of the Bron/Gooden connection, one man that poses a threat against the Pistons is Drew Gooden. Rasheed and McDyess will have to shut down the paint early, and force Gooden and Ilgauskas to take jumpers, all while keeping Big Z away from the boards, both on offense and defense. The Pistons will need to hold onto any lead they gain going into the final quarter, where you can almost bet that LeBron and Co. will turn it up in Cleveland. Any momentum gained by the Cavs in the 4th will need to be stopped, either by a nice basket or a timeout. The Pistons are still suffering from the incident that took place in the Palace the other night, so the crowd will definitely play a factor in this game. Look for Snow and Hunter to come off the bench and try and cool down a hot Chauncey Billups, who may end up with a 30-point performance tonight, if his shots are falling early. Brandon's Prediction With all aspects of this game against the Pistons (away game, Ben's absence, bad karma, hot Cavs team), I'm going to say that Detroit loses their lead going into the fourth, Rasheed loses his patience, and the Pistons watch their record fall below .500 as the Cavaliers take this one to the house, 95-87.
Pistons without Wallace are still a good team. Wallace's outside shot should prevent should prevent Ilguaskas from doing too much in the paint. Newble can't come close to stopping Hamilton's jumpshot and Prince as well as the whole Detroit team will give James a lot of trouble. I'm taking Detroit 88-76.
Sheed needs to start stepping up like the big name player he is, his peformances have not been that good this year at all. Alot of that has to do with him not being in the right game shape. The fact he doesn't respect Heard as a coach is also another factor. Mcdyess is doing a great job as a starter, posting two straight double doubles. Sheed needs to do his part. The way they are playing defense is a disgrace, Larry Brown or not..they still have guys who can play great defense even with Ben missing.
cleveland by 12, 93-81. one more prediction, fans will not throw beer cups, pop corn, and a flyin' chair...lol!
